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Hate to throw a wet blanket on the party, Zebra wood smells like a wet dog when wet, spalted wood is dangerous, has a fungus which is toxic to humans and some exotic woods look good but can contain toxins which are dangerous for humans.

Haste to throw a wet blanket on the party, Zebra wood smells like a wet dog when wet, spalted wood is dangerous, has a fungus which is toxic to humans and some exotic woods look good but can contain tixins which are dangerous for humans.

Just my 2 cents and 50+ years worth of experience. To many friends here.

No worries, you are certainly entitled to your opinion and it is respected. Some fairly broad accusations there, so I will try to address them the best I can. Not wanting to start an internet pissing match with a neighbor (I'll be in Kernersville this weekend if you want to talk shop) but I feel like I need to address them for those that take your word as gospel and may not know the differences in wood species.

I often find more traditional (experienced) woodworkers are shocked to learn there are hardwoods outside of oak, maple, cherry, and walnut. My wife's grandfather who taught shop in NC for over 50 years is certainly in this category! Not that there is anything wrong with those more traditional domestic species, I use them often.

Just like any food, nut, leaf, weed, grass, etc certain people can have negative reactions to ANY wood, even the sacred walnut, cherry, and maple species.

Walnut, Maple, and Cherry actually have more potential reactions listed than Zebrawood.

Speaking of Zebrawood, yes it smells like cat piss when working with it (planing, cutting, sanding), so does Hickory in my opinion. Having used an end grain Zebrawood board for some time now in my kitchen, I can say myself or wife have never noticed any odor when it's wet. I've never had a customer mention this either from any of the boards I've sold containing Zebrawood.

Sure some exotics are known to cause more reactions than others and I stay away from those.

And then there's the dreaded spalted/fungus wood. I'm guessing you're referring to the ambrosia Maple here, a very popular maple variant. Unless you are chewing on your cutting board I have never heard of a case of illness from any of the stable, kiln-dried, spalted woods I use in my boards. I'd actually probably rather chew on one than eat some of the punky cheese, charcuterie, and mushroom fungus varieties I've seen.

Happy to answer any questions, I guess this is similar to the Japanese vs Western knife debate in a way....

Good answer Bork Wood.
While spalting is caused by natural occuring color staining fungus, conditions are very narrow where they could continue to live. Kiln drying kills them. There are a large variety of fungus found in woods so the other mention is like saying all fungus will kill you.

When looking into the wood toxicity issues of exotic woods, most are describing the results of excessive inhalation of the wood dust. Usually workers in unventilated 3rd world sweatshops. The other common wood toxicity is from the living or fresh cut sap of woods causing similar to a poison ivy reaction in some people when they come in direct contact with the fresh cut wood. We had a guy working at the burl shop who would pressure wash the wood before we milled it. He would be covered with red blotches every time he pressure washed walnut. No reaction from the dried walnut though.
Just my 2 cents but inflammatory reactions based on questionable information taken out of context gets me going.
BTW: doesn't everyone know, bacon and butter will kill you. Think I will go make me a BLT sandwich.